Workforce Bulletin

Our colleague Laura A. Stutz at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Health Employment and Labor Blog that will be of interest to our readers in the retail industry: “Race Discrimination on the Basis of Hair Is Illegal in NYC.”

Following is an excerpt:

The New York City Commission on Human Rights published legal enforcement guidance defining an individual’s right to wear “natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such a locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”   The guidance ...

Our colleague Laura A. Stutz at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Health Employment and Labor blog that will be of interest to our readers in the retail industry: “New York City Council Passes Bills Establishing Procedures on Flexible Work Schedules and Reasonable Accommodation Requests.”

Following is an excerpt:

The New York City Council recently passed two bills affecting New York City employers and their employees. The first bill, Int. No. 1399, passed by the Council on December 6, 2017, amends Chapter 12 of title 20 of the City’s administrative code (colloquially ...

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (“DCA”) has issued proposed rules  for the implementation of the Fair Workweek Law. The law establishes scheduling practices for fast food and retail workers in New York City and is set to go into effect on November 26, 2017.

With regard to retail employers, the proposed rules include:

• Workplace notice positing requirements, § 14-02.   The DCA’s notice template is not yet available.
• Workplace schedule posting requirements, § 14-04.   Retail employers must conspicuously post schedules three days before work begins.   The proposed ...

California’s Fair Employment & Housing Council has finalized and adopted new regulations to establish criteria for the use and consideration of criminal history information in employment decisions where such use may constitute a violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The new regulations take effect July 1, 2017, and are available here and on the Council’s website.  The regulations are intended to clarify, outline and maintain consistency between the laws governing the consideration of criminal history information in employment decisions.

The ...

Retail employers should take note that the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) updated its mandatory posters notifying employees of their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and Employee Polygraph Protection Act (“EPPA”).  The FLSA and EPPA posters no longer identify the civil monetary penalties that may be assessed for violations.  The FLSA poster also provides information regarding the rights of nursing mothers under the FLSA.  Employers are required to post the revised mandatory posters as of August 1, 2016, and may download the revised posters from the ...

On June 28, 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation passed earlier this month by The New York City Council to amend the City’s administrative code, plumbing code and building code to require gender-neutral single-occupant restrooms. The new law applies to businesses and other establishments in the City’s five boroughs with existing single-occupancy, publicly-accessible restrooms. The law does not require businesses to build new single-occupant restrooms, nor does it affect larger restrooms with multiple single-stalls.

Instead, the law prohibits the ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued interim guidance on April 10, 2016, for protecting outdoor workers who may be exposed on the job to mosquitos and healthcare and laboratory workers exposed on the job to body fluids of individuals infected with Zika virus.  Although the guidance is not a standard or regulation, employers should be mindful that OSHA can always issue citations under the General Duty Clause (OSHA’s catch all provision requiring all employers to provide employees with safe ...

On March 28, 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed three pieces of legislation passed earlier this month by The New York City Council to amend the City’s Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”).

The new laws:

1. require that the NYCHRL be interpreted expansively to maximize civil rights protections, regardless of how courts have interpreted similar provisions under federal and state anti-discrimination laws;
2. permit the City’s Commission on Human Rights the authority to award attorney’s fees and costs to complainants in cases brought before the Commission; and
3. repeal ...

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently implemented nationwide procedures for the release of employer position statements to Charging Parties upon request.  The new procedures raise concerns about disclosure by the EEOC of non-public personnel and commercial or financial information the employer may disclose to support its position with regard to the Charge.

Before releasing the supporting documents to the Charging Party, the EEOC will review the employer’s submissions and withhold only information the Commission decides should be ...

Our colleague Laura A. Stutz has a Retail Employment Law Blog post that will be of interest to many of our financial services industry readers: “EEOC Implements Nationwide Program to Disclose Employer Position Statements and Supporting Documents.”

Following is an excerpt:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently implemented nationwide procedures for the release of employer position statements to Charging Parties upon request.  The new procedures raise concerns about disclosure by the EEOC of non-public personnel and commercial or ...

Our colleague Laura A. Stutz has a Retail Employment Law Blog post that will be of interest to many of our hospitality industry readers: “EEOC Implements Nationwide Program to Disclose Employer Position Statements and Supporting Documents.”

Following is an excerpt:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently implemented nationwide procedures for the release of employer position statements to Charging Parties upon request. The new procedures raise concerns about disclosure by the EEOC of non-public personnel and commercial or financial ...

Our colleague Laura A. Stutz has a Retail Employment Law Blog post that will be of interest to many of our technology industry readers: “EEOC Implements Nationwide Program to Disclose Employer Position Statements and Supporting Documents.”

Following is an excerpt:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently implemented nationwide procedures for the release of employer position statements to Charging Parties upon request. The new procedures raise concerns about disclosure by the EEOC of non-public personnel and commercial or financial ...

On January 7, 2016, New York launched the Medical Marijuana Program established under the State’s Compassionate Care Act (“Program”). The Program

is intended to deliver approved forms of marijuana to seriously ill individuals “in desperate need of treatment.”   Medicinal use of marijuana in New York requires a registered physician’s certification and State-issued registry identification card.

The Program establishes that State-certified medicinal pot users “shall be deemed” disabled within the meaning of the State’s Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”).  ...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) created the Action Council for Transformation to a Digital Charge System (“ACT Digital”) to enable the electronic submission of documents between the parties to a Charge of Discrimination and the EEOC.  Phase I of the system allows an employer against whom a Charge of employment discrimination has been filed to electronically interact with the EEOC through its online service for respondents, the EEOC Respondent Portal.  The pilot program for Phase I began in May 2015 in the Commission’s Charlotte and San ...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed two ordinances, known colloquially as the Retail Workers Bill of Rights, to regulate: (1) employee hours, scheduling, and retention; and (2) treatment of part-time employees at certain standardized retail establishments in San Francisco.  The ordinances, codified as: Hours and Retention Protections for Formula Retail Employees Ordinance, San Francisco Police Code Article 33F, and Fair Scheduling and Treatment of Formula Retail Employees, San Francisco Police Code Article 33G, went into effect earlier this year.  Enforcement ...